My son lives in Omaha and we have decided that we do not believe the hype coming out of Lincoln this year. I'm just a fan, but my son played SS in Div III (at 200lbs he terrorized Div III receivers going over the middle). Any way, NU is just not a top 10 team. Put that stuff on the garden if you want, but I'm not buying it.
Listen to their coaches telling you why NU will be better than last year:
Line depth on defense a big plus for Papuchis - Omaha.com
“I think we're going to make up for what we lost in talent with depth and quality numbers,†Papuchis said. That's the DE coach talking about the D line this year. They lost the best DT they have ever had - no 2 overall pick. And they are excited to replace him with lots of guys who can play. Get the Lions on the phone. Maybe they want to trade Suh for those guys (maybe not).
I recently saw a pre-season rating of conference QB's. Zach Lee is 7th. And the secret that is right out there in front of everyone is that Lee underwent surgery on his throwing arm in the off season. He did not play a snap in spring ball. NU does not know WHO their QB will be this year. Tim Beck, NU RB coach is not worried, though: Beck didn't make it too long in his question-and-answer session with fans Friday night before he was asked about Lee. But Beck insisted he had no news.
“I haven't talked to him,†Beck said. “We expect him to be 100 percent.â€
Suh wasn't the only loss. Larry Assante was drafted out of the defensive backfield in the 5th round. Oh yes, and Dillard was drafted in round 4 as a LB.
Prince Amukamara is back at DB. He had a good year last year sitting back in his zone while Suh and company harrassed opposing QB's into throwing the ball to him. Coverage might be a little tougher this year with out the chief disrupter up front, and with opposing QB's throwing to receivers who have time to get open. We're going to find out how good Crick is when HE gets the double teams instead of Suh.
So, on the defensive side of the ball, NU is going to be better because they have no outstanding talent, but they have something called "quality numbers"? Again, I am sure it is good for the roses, but I ain't buying any of it.
Take heart though, Huskers, the offense, which stunk all last year, is back intact (with a question mark at QB - if he comes through, he is the 7th rated QB in the league, if not, well there's always quality numbers to fall back on).
These guys have not done that well in Ames in recent years. I'm thinking we show them the conference door with back to back Cyclone victories and another big Cyclone win in Ames. We took them last year with our starting backfield out of the lineup. Our guys (who handled Suh last year, thank you very much) are back. KO and Alvarez are pretty sure that handling the best in the nation last year has prepped them adequately for "quality numbers" this fall.
The Big 12 North is no walk in the park for NU this year, and in my book, the Huskers have a lot to prove to really be a top 10 team. When you put the hype aside and put the facts through the BS detector, the needle pegs out.
Let's beat these guys and give them a proper send off to the Big Ten.
Listen to their coaches telling you why NU will be better than last year:
Line depth on defense a big plus for Papuchis - Omaha.com
“I think we're going to make up for what we lost in talent with depth and quality numbers,†Papuchis said. That's the DE coach talking about the D line this year. They lost the best DT they have ever had - no 2 overall pick. And they are excited to replace him with lots of guys who can play. Get the Lions on the phone. Maybe they want to trade Suh for those guys (maybe not).
I recently saw a pre-season rating of conference QB's. Zach Lee is 7th. And the secret that is right out there in front of everyone is that Lee underwent surgery on his throwing arm in the off season. He did not play a snap in spring ball. NU does not know WHO their QB will be this year. Tim Beck, NU RB coach is not worried, though: Beck didn't make it too long in his question-and-answer session with fans Friday night before he was asked about Lee. But Beck insisted he had no news.
“I haven't talked to him,†Beck said. “We expect him to be 100 percent.â€
Suh wasn't the only loss. Larry Assante was drafted out of the defensive backfield in the 5th round. Oh yes, and Dillard was drafted in round 4 as a LB.
Prince Amukamara is back at DB. He had a good year last year sitting back in his zone while Suh and company harrassed opposing QB's into throwing the ball to him. Coverage might be a little tougher this year with out the chief disrupter up front, and with opposing QB's throwing to receivers who have time to get open. We're going to find out how good Crick is when HE gets the double teams instead of Suh.
So, on the defensive side of the ball, NU is going to be better because they have no outstanding talent, but they have something called "quality numbers"? Again, I am sure it is good for the roses, but I ain't buying any of it.
Take heart though, Huskers, the offense, which stunk all last year, is back intact (with a question mark at QB - if he comes through, he is the 7th rated QB in the league, if not, well there's always quality numbers to fall back on).
These guys have not done that well in Ames in recent years. I'm thinking we show them the conference door with back to back Cyclone victories and another big Cyclone win in Ames. We took them last year with our starting backfield out of the lineup. Our guys (who handled Suh last year, thank you very much) are back. KO and Alvarez are pretty sure that handling the best in the nation last year has prepped them adequately for "quality numbers" this fall.
The Big 12 North is no walk in the park for NU this year, and in my book, the Huskers have a lot to prove to really be a top 10 team. When you put the hype aside and put the facts through the BS detector, the needle pegs out.
Let's beat these guys and give them a proper send off to the Big Ten.
